BRICUP, the British organisation behind the boycott of Israeli academics, held a fringe meeting at UCU Congress yesterday in Bournemouth.

The official speakers took up most of the time, but there was time for a few questions from the audience. Of course, these ‘questions’ were really statements from the various pro-boycott attendees.

One of these was Sean Wallis, UCL UCU branch secretary. He wanted to speak about how UCU should debate a boycott whether it’s legal or not. One of the threats he mentioned was from lawyers backed by those with “bank balances from Lehman Brothers that can’t be tracked down.”

The remark elicited a few sniggers, though not the outright laughter of an earlier joke by Haim Bresheeth about Israeli friendly fire casualties.

Now, a popular conspiracy theory circulating online claims that Jews transferred $400 billion out of Lehman Brothers to untraceable bank accounts in Israel, a couple of days before Lehman filed for bankruptcy. This lie first appeared on a website run by the Barnes Review, an American ‘revisionist’ organisation with a particular interest in Holocaust denial, and spread on various right-wing anti-Zionist websites.

It is not entirely obvious what Mr Wallis is referring to by claiming that legal threats against UCU are funded by “bank balances from Lehmnn Brothers that can’t be tracked down.” Perhaps he could clarify his remarks.

Update 9th June 2009: Sean Wallis has given his explanation of the remarks, which we have published here.

You must appreciate that I consider this to be a professional slander as well as one that impugns my integrity as a trade unionist.

This report consists of attributing anti-semitic motives without my consent and without the reporter having the courtesy to ask me what, if any, truth there was in the allegations.

Since I was at Congress over the entire period and apparently the source was at the meeting, there would have been ample opportunity for him/her to check the facts. I am fairly well known, as a branch secretary of one of the largest UCU union branches in the UK.

One minute’s reading of the source blog above shows that it is the original reporter who introduces the very anti-semitic slur that I am accused of.

Without that slur, it is a non-story.

No-one asked me for my opinion.

For the record: I utterly refute the allegation, I oppose racism in all its forms, I defend the right of union members to academic freedom of inquiry and expression, and I have a track record second to none in all these respects.

Moreover, I defend and support union members on a daily basis. Many of my union members are Jewish. If I held racist views I would not be fit to represent them. How would I be able to advise members who are being bullied, for instance, if I were not sensitive to any potential racist aspect of the case?

The very nature of the slander and its target undermines the credibility of the story in the eyes of those who know me. But you don’t know me, and you have chosen not to check the facts.

I am asking you, formally, to retract this article and to apologise publicly.

At a general meeting of UCL UCU yesterday, at which over 60 members were present, we unanimously passed the resolution below.

Vanessa Freedman
Hebrew & Jewish Studies Librarian
UCL

RESOLUTION: DEFEND UCU BRANCH SECRETARY SEAN WALLIS
UCL UCU notes
That a report has appeared in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz alleging anti-semitism in comments made by UCL UCU branch secretary, Sean Wallis, in a personal capacity, at a fringe meeting at UCU Congress 2009.
That UCU delegates voted en bloc in line with branch policy at UCU Congress, including in relation to our position on any putative Academic Boycott of Israeli Institutions.
That unfounded allegations have the potential to intimidate and damage this union and its members.
UCL UCU believes
That anti-semitism, clearly defined as racism against Jews, must be opposed in exactly the same terms as any other racist ideology, namely, on the basis that an injury to one is an injury to all.
That trade union and academic freedom entails the right of members to adopt contrary positions, and to debate international issues on their merits, free from threat of legal action or libel.
That this particular allegation of anti-semitism is without foundation.
UCL UCU affirms that Sean Wallis has an impeccable reputation not just as a trade union activist and democrat but also as a consistent opponent of racism in all of its forms, including opposition to anti-semitism.

UCL UCU resolves
To stand by our branch secretary and against any witch-hunt of him.
To call on the National Executive Committee of UCU publicly to register its support for this union officer in all relevant publications, and to condemn the unfounded campaign being waged against him.

I really would like to know (i.e. this isn’t rhetoric) – how many Israeli academics work in UK universities and how many Paletsinian academics likewise? How many Israeli univesities exist and how many Palestinian? It would be interesting to have the figures side by side.

“I really would like to know (i.e. this isn’t rhetoric) – how many Israeli academics work in UK universities and how many Paletsinian academics likewise? How many Israeli univesities exist and how many Palestinian? It would be interesting to have the figures side by side.”

No reply; this suggests that no-one who comments here can make a comparision to see how equally Israelis and Palestinians fill the ranks of academia. Until we know that, it’s hard to say how “equal” these two groups’ opportunites are. Does this matter less than feeling free to call people names?

this is a fairly low-traffic site. We aren’t Comment is Free yet, so I wouldn’t expect a question left in the comments box to be instantly answered.

There are seven full public Israeli Universities that come under the Israeli Higher Education Council. Additionally, there’s an Open University and a private University (the Interdisciplinary Centre) focused on postgraduate courses. There are also a number of technical colleges, some of which are looking for full university status.

In the Palestinian Territories, there are seven or eight ‘real’ universities, an Open University and a number of specialised colleges that use the title ‘University’ – some of these might give their own degrees.

Answering the question of how many Israeli and Palestinian academics work in the UK is very tricky, and depends how you define ‘Israeli’, ‘Palestinian’ and ‘academic’. Do PhD students count? Do Palestinians with British, Jordanian or Australian citizenship? What about Israeli Arabs; do they count as both?

[...] Wallis, a local UCU official, said that anti-boycott lawyers were financed by “bank balances from Lehman Brothers that can’t be tracked down”. Ronnie Fraser asked him whether he had indeed made this antisemitic claim. Wallis admitted [...]

[...] Wallis, a local UCU official, said that anti-boycott lawyers were financed by “bank balances from Lehman Brothers that can’t be tracked down”. Ronnie Fraser asked him whether he had indeed made this antisemitic claim. Wallis admitted [...]

[...] Wallis, a local UCU official, said that anti-boycott lawyers were financed by ‘bank balances from Lehman Brothers that can’t be tracked down’. Ronnie Fraser asked him whether he had indeed made this antisemitic claim. Wallis admitted [...]